We at Pristine Grace hold to what is commonly (but we believe is wrongly) called "Calvinism" in matters of salvation. The reason we do not like the term "Calvinism" is three-fold:

First, it assumes that the doctrine of salvation by grace began with a man named John Calvin, which it did not. Many that call themselves Calvinists acknowledge that these are Biblical doctrines that were basically buried for centuries and resurrected by one -John Calvin. This we reject. We believe that any doctrine that is clearly taught in Scripture should not be attached to a man's name lest it be understood as originating by man.

Secondly, this term makes Calvin the standard by which the doctrines of grace, commonly called "the five points of Calvinism", are measured. If one goes farther than Calvin, he is labelled a dreaded "hypercalvinist," something that should not be construed as bad.

Thirdly, the term "Calvinism" much like the term "Reformed" deals with much more than merely the doctrine of salvation and encompasses the doctrine of the church. Here is where we, at Pristine Grace, part with our Protestant Calvinist/Reformed brethren. We are Baptist in our doctrine of the church. We do not say that those brethren, who do not hold to Baptist doctrine but still hold to the doctrines of grace, are not our brethren. This we humbly acknowledge; but, nonetheless, we cannot consider those who reject what we believe to be the teaching of Scripture regarding the church, to be true churches of our Lord (although the people themselves may be numbered among the elect of God). We at Pristine Grace define the church as the following:

A church is a congregation of adult believers in Christ, baptized by immersion upon a crediable profession of faith, who have covenanted together for the maintenance of worship, for administering the ordinances, the exercise of discipline and for the proclamation of the Gospel of God's free and sovereign grace for the calling out of the elect; this congregation is both independant and autonomous having nothing over it but the Rule of Christ in the Gospel.

We believe that those congregations that are not in substantial agreement with this definition have rejected the Biblical definition; therefore, although they may be made up of true children of Zion, they cannot be a true church of our Lord.

Regarding the doctrine of salvation and the proclamation of the Gospel, we believe that salvation is a gift bestowed by a sovereign God (who answers to no one), not a gift offered to all with the hopes that all will just receive it. Anything less than this cannot be called grace; for all grace is sovereign, and all grace is something bestowed, not offered.

It is these principles that permeate the articles that are on the Pristine Grace Website. It is not our intention to offend any that do not hold to our Baptist view of the church nor our view of the Gospel as a proclamation instead of an offer; but, nonetheless, we must be faithful in what we believe to be the Biblical position as to whether one's own master and servant stands or falls.

We trust that those who read the articles here will keep that in mind. Please feel free to make comments on anything you read.

Michael Krall